Although Estonia is not an obvious tourist destination, it is fast becoming popular with hiking fans and nature lovers eager to explore this rugged land.


After years under Danish, Swedish, German and Russian rule, Estonia eventually gained independence in 1918. After being incorporated into the USSR in 1940 it regained freedom in 1991 and the last Russian troops left in 1994.


Te country joined the EU in 2004 and the OECD in late 2010, adopting the Euro in 2011. Estonia borders the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland between Latvia and Russia. It’s a sparsely populated country with its 1.3 million


population spread across 15 counties. Tese counties are then divided into municipalities – urban and rural. A maakond (county) is the biggest administrative subdivision, whilst the government of each county is led by a governor who represents the national government at a regional level.


Although geographically Estonia shares a similarity with Latvia and Lithuania, it is culturally different and offers everything from forests, lakes and islands to the captivating capital city, Tallinn.


Te share tourism contributes to Estonia’s GDP and employment is around eight per cent. Some


3.6 million tourists visited Estonia in 2018 - this figure was an increase of 1.3 per cent on the previous year and the number of foreign tourists accounted for 2.14 million, mostly consisting of Finnish, Russian, German and Latvian visitors to the country.


Total tourism receipts for that year amounted to €1.98bn and there are around 1,600 accommodation venues offering more than 40,000 beds.


Amendments to the Tourism Act were introduced in July 2018 improving the conditions for travellers with increased protection and clearer information for travel packages.


NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P59


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